


an island breeze is all you need

by sebastian2017



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Genosha, M/M, Post-Canon, Weddings, and they all live happily ever after, dadneto, happy endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastian2017/pseuds/sebastian2017
Summary: Life in Genosha isn't what Charles had in mind for himself, but he's coming to love it. Trading in headmaster for husband seems more than worth the trade.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68
Collections: Marvel Reverse Big Bang 2019





	an island breeze is all you need

**Author's Note:**

> cw: alcohol mention
> 
> This is my contribution for the Marvel Reverse Big Bang! The moodboard this is based on is at the bottom of the fic and was provided by Karadanverss over on Tumblr. 
> 
> enjoy!

Life in Genosha is very much not where Charles expected himself to end up in during his retirement. Some part of him had suspected he’d end up in some quiet countryside, simply because it’s very much the norm for the rich old men he’d met in his childhood. Still, even in that scenario, he’d assumed it would be more grand estate than developing commune. Of course, he’d also assumed he’d be alone and not finally with Erik after half a lifetime off floating around one another. He’d live in the dingiest of communes to be with Erik. 

Of course, being happy to live here doesn’t mean it’s any easier. There’s a rather steep learning curve to adjust to life on an underdeveloped island. Erik is as helpful as he can be and Charles is patient, but some days are still more frustrating than others. He and Erik are laying together one quiet night, enjoying each other’s warmth and the comfortable silence. Erik’s hand is resting along Charles’ hips, rubbing small circles into his skin there that fade in and out of feeling. 

“Are you happy here?” Erik mumbles eventually, breaking the silence. “Really like it, I mean? I know it’s not quite the standards of living you’re used to.” 

Charles is relatively confident he knows where this is coming from. Today had been one of their most frustrating days recently. Nothing Charles can’t grin and bear through, but this island wasn’t exactly put together with accessibility in mind and some days, that’s more obvious than others. “Of course I’m happy here, darling. I would have told you if I wasn’t.” 

“Even though this isn’t exactly the best place for you to live?” he prods. 

“I would live in a shed in the middle of dessert if it meant getting to live with my boyfriend,” Charles promises, leaning up to kiss him. 

Erik laughs softly at that and moves his arm up to wrap around Charles’ shoulders. “Boyfriend… That sounds so much less committed than what we really are, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps a bit. I’m not sure what else we might qualify as, though. Life partners, perhaps? It’s a bit of a mouthful,” Charles says, shrugging. 

“It is. What about husband?” Erik suggests. 

As flattered as Charles is by that, he also can’t help but laugh a bit. “Sure, that would be better. But I doubt we’d find somewhere willing to marry us any time soon.”

“Have you forgotten I technically run this place?” Erik reminds him. 

“...you wouldn’t really go around changing laws for me, would you?” he asks. Not because he wouldn’t marry Erik in an instant, but because, truth be told, he’s been quietly waiting for this whole thing to blow up in their face again. This, though… This would be a sign of commitment. 

Erik leans over to turn off their bedside lamp and gives Charles a quick kiss while he’s nearby. “I suppose we’ll see in the morning, hmm? Good night, motek.” 

xxxxxxx

By the time Charles wakes up, Erik’s side of the bed is already empty. This isn’t particularly a surprise. Erik is usually awake before he is. He doesn’t think too much of it and, really, their conversation from the night before has all but slipped his mind. It comes crashing right back when Erik walks into the room, with a bowl of tropical fruits for breakfast in one hand and an engagement ring in the other. 

“Goodness. You were serious last night?” Charles asks. 

“You know I don’t joke about these things,” Erik says simply, shrugging. Charles stares, waiting for the inevitable moment when Erik will reveal it’s all an elaborate prank, but Erik only goes to sit at the side of the bed and holds the ring out towards Charles. “So what do you say? Will you marry me?” 

“Darling… You know I would if I could,” he insists, reaching forward to take the ring and inspect it carefully. It’s clearly something Erik made from scraps lying around, but that just makes it more endearing. 

Erik scoffs. “Did you think I was kidding when I said I run this place. If anything that happens here could really be described running a governing system. I took care of it this morning. Our law books now very explicitly say that consenting adults of any gender identity may marry.” 

“Goodness…” Charles slips the ring onto his finger and looks up at Erik. It’s too fast and they might have another falling out at any second and it’s not as though anyone outside of their little island is likely to ever recognize this marriage as real and valid. But what is his and Erik’s relationship if not one long jump into the unknown? “Of course I’ll marry you, you idiot.” 

“Great! Consider us engaged now.” Erik grins and leans forward to kiss Charles’ cheek. From the way Erik looks like the luckiest man in the world right now, you’d never guess that just a few months ago, they’d been almost wholly estranged, relying on distance and silence to keep the tenuous peace between them. 

“We should celebrate. Tell our friends, perhaps?” Charles suggests. He’s only just met most of the island’s residents, but they’ve been friendly enough after Erik assured them that he’s here to live among them, not try to interrupt their lifestyle. It’s good to have new friends after everything that happened. 

Erik nods. “I’m sure if we give them enough time to plan, some of the darling X-Men might come.” 

It’s still a sore subject and Charles only just barely avoids wincing. “I suppose it would be polite to send an invitation to the mansion, yes.” 

“Motek… Wanting space from someone isn’t the same as hating them. Even if some of them aren’t entirely ready to forgive, you’re still someone important to them. They’ll want to know and I’m willing to bet a good deal of them would like to attend.” 

“Perhaps.” Charles sighs. “We’ll send them, I suppose.” 

xxxxx

Charles takes to the wedding planning with much vigor. These days, he doesn’t often feel like the rich little heir his mother groomed him to be, but planning out a big party like this brings out that side of him. Big by Genosha’s standards, at least. If Charles tries to plan something like the party he might throw in the mansion, he’ll probably get tossed off the island for extremely distasteful displays of wealth. So no grand ballrooms or live orchestras at the reception, but Charles is still determined to have the best party possible. 

He’s sitting with a cup of tea that it’s far too warm outside to really enjoy, drafting the guest list. Everyone in their little community, of course, but also the invitations they’ll mail out. There’s a torn, smudged part of the page from the few names Charles has written down and erased at least half a dozen times. 

Erik comes inside and finds him there, bent over the guest list and looking rather stressed about it all. “We can always elope. No one but us two and someone to make it official.” 

“It’s not that. It’s just…” Charles sighs and turns to face Erik. “We should invite the twins and Lorna, right?” 

It’s a sore subject between them. Erik loves them dearly, of course, like he would love any child of his, but he hates the reminder that he had children he’d never been aware out in the world. Charles knows how easy it is for Erik to fall into a long, painful cycle of wondering about everything that could have been. Erik’s had more than enough pain when it comes to losing children in his life, so it’s always been difficult to think about children he’d never even really had. 

Still, Charles doesn’t see any reason why them being fully grown should stop them from developing a relationship now. If only they didn’t live so far and if only Erik didn’t always change the subject whenever it’s brought up. There’s not much Charles has ever seen Erik be scared of, but this is most certainly one of them. 

“Oh. They live so far. Don’t you think it might just be a bother to clutter up their mailboxes with invitations to a wedding halfway across the world they probably don’t want to attend anyway?” Erik says, glancing over Charles’ shoulder at the guest list. 

“No more of a bother than them finding out in a few months that their father was married and they were never informed of it,” he points out. 

Erik sighs. “I suppose so. Sure. Write out the invitation. Let me know when you put them in the mail. I should probably… give them a call beforehand.” 

“I’m sure they’ll love to hear from you,” Charles promises, reaching back to give Erik’s hand a squeeze. 

“Perhaps.” He nods. “If we’re inviting the twins and Lorna, we should see about inviting David, don’t you think?” 

“Oh. I don’t know… It’s a very different situation between David and I.” Charles hesitates, putting his pencil down again. “The twins and Lorna don’t really know you well enough to have a very close relationship. David is… Very vocal about how much he dislikes me.”

“He is. He doesn’t know you all that well either. I’m sure he’d like to at least know it’s happening. Give him the choice of not coming if that’s what he wants, don’t choose for him,” he insists. 

Charles sighs. This is enough guest list drafting for tonight, he’s decided. “I’ll think about it. He might very well prefer I don’t attempt to reach out to him at all.” 

“It’s worth a try, motek,” Erik says. He leans down to kiss him and then wheels him a few inches back from the desk. “We’ve planned enough for today. How about you join me on a walk, hmm? The sun is going to set soon and it’ll be even more beautiful than yesterday.”

“You say that every day,” Charles murmurs. 

“And somehow it’s true every day.” 

xxxx

Admittedly, Erik might have been in over his head when he decided to make it his mission to get David for the wedding. He rarely agrees with Charles’ harsh judgements on himself about David, because it’s the last thing Charles needs, but it’s undeniably true that Charles and David’s relationship is icy on the best of days. It’s no one’s fault, the way Erik sees it. Just a combination of very many unfortunate circumstances, but of course, David’s the one who’s had to personally deal with all the pain of growing up without his father or someone around to guide him through his mutation. Erik can’t exactly blame him for not being the most logical about the whole thing. 

Understanding doesn’t make it any less frustrating when David takes one look at him and tries to shut the door in his face. Erik stops it with his powers and then wedges his foot in the way so David won’t get any ideas of getting into Erik’s mind to take control of his powers. “Surely you can spare two minutes to talk.” 

“You were cool before you let my dad move in here and shacked up with him. You’re worth just as much to me as he does now,” David mutters. 

“Genosha is for all mutants, David. Not just the ones we personally like,” Erik reminds him. 

David just shrugs. “Sure. You like my father a whole lot, though. Enough to get married, it seems.” 

“I suppose there’s no point reminding you it’s rude to not let people say their own announcements, so I’ll just thank you for saving me the trouble of explaining.” He sighs. “Will you at least consider joining us?” 

“The answer’s no, Lehnsherr. Go run off back to your fiance,” David tells him, rolling his eyes. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Erik promises, because maybe a bit of persuasion is what David needs.

Half the island is sure David would cast them off into the astral plane if he was ever annoyed with them, but Erik’s never had that fear. David’s a sweet boy, Erik can see that. Just a frustrated one who’d missed out on some sorely needed love and guidance while growing up. It might be a bit late for that now, but Erik will at least take his chance and ask until he’s truly given up hope or David really does banish him to the astral plane. Whichever happens to come first. 

Erik asks again the next day and the day after that and the day after that. David isn’t ever pleased when Erik comes knocking at his door. But he also never destroys Erik from the inside out, which Erik will take as a good sign. On the eight day, David opens the door before Erik even has a chance to knock. 

“Fine. Fine! If I say I’ll go to the stupid wedding, will you stop bothering me about it?” David asks. 

Erik nods. “Of course I’ll just send you an invitation by mail so you know the date and won’t bother you anymore after that.” 

“All this and you never even bothered to bring an invitation with you? Fine. I’ll wait on the invitation and see you there. Now just go back to that fiance of yours,” he says, closing the door before Erik can get another word in. Which is fine. He got what he wanted.

He has a feeling David won’t be too happy while he’s at the wedding, but at least he’ll be there, and that’s the most Erik can expect from him. Charles will probably be happy with just that one thing, at least. David tends to be a man of his word, so Erik isn’t too worried that he’ll go back on his promise to attend, but just in case, he doesn’t mention any of it to Charles when he goes back home. He’s been understandably sensitive ever since the Jean incident and if Erik can avoid adding some more disappointment to his life, he will. 

When he gets home and Charles asks the usual questions of where he’d been off to, Erik just lies and says he was busy checking up on residents around the island. Hopefully David will actually come to the wedding so Erik can feel like he was lying for a good reason and not just taking one step closer to defaulting to their usual reality of never being able to fully trust one another because of all the scheming going on around each other. Erik’s more than happy to leave that in the past. 

Just like he’s more than happy, despite his dramatic grumbling, to sit down with Charles and go through a binder full of pictures of every available flower on the island so they can decide on what they’ll decorate the tables with. 

\----

Peter doesn’t hold any ill will against his father. Really! He doesn’t. Sure, he’d grown up without him and all that jazz, but it hadn’t really been his fault. Erik just hadn’t known. Plus, of course, that whole pesky little affair of being locked away in the Pentagon for the better part of a decade. That made it a little difficult to meet up in the park and play a few games of catch to bond. (Or maybe Erik’s idea of father-son bonding is more like getting together and crashing some Humanity First meetings or something. Peter doesn’t really know.)

No ill will does not equal no awkwardness. Not a chance. It is, in fact, the most awkward relationship ever. Peter sees Erik maybe twice a year, when he travels over to Genosha for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. Wanda comes less often, but she’s also much less cool about the whole ‘growing up with no dad because he was in jail for being a terrorist except not really that one time except who cares because he really was a terrorist.’ Every time, Erik would spend about a day asking about everything except Charles and the X-Men and pretending like oh no, he totally doesn’t want to know how everyone at the mansion is doing. He usually caved by the second day, though, and askex all about Charles like some pathetic pining little puppy. Which really, is exactly what Erik is around Charles. Not that Peter would ever say that out loud. Erik might be his dad, but Peter is _not_ taking any chances. 

He’s mostly curious as to what Erik will talk about now that he and Charles are living together. He would have probably come to the wedding either way, but that’s what he uses to convince Wanda to join him. She’s still not too pleased about _that_ but they’re already here. No going back now. 

“So… How long into the ceremony do you think we’ll make it before Sentinels start raining from the sky or a portal opens to the Savage Land or Mister Sinister crashes the party or some other unfortunate event takes place?” Wanda asks, peering around the docks as they disembark from the boat they’d rented on the mainland. 

“You’re giving them all the way until the ceremony before things go wrong?” says someone as they walk up behind the twins. “That’s generous.”

Peter turns to see Lorna coming up to them and grins. They haven’t really spent much time with their half sister, but she’s always been pretty cool when they’ve been together. “Lorna! The old man roped you into this too, huh?” 

“You know I’ve got a soft spot for him. I got here yesterday.” Lorna shrugs. 

“Ah, you can fill us in on all the hot goss.” Peter grins and slings an arm around his sister’s shoulders and walks along between them. 

“Oh, I’ve gotten plenty of gossip. Here’s the best one: want to go meet the Professor’s son?” she offers. 

Peter nearly trips when he hears that, which is saying quite a lot, because come on. He’s literally run around at full speed in zero gravity and been just fine, so tripping over some sand is the definition of _lame._ But that’s probably the very last thing Peter expected to hear. He’d been imagining something more along the lines of the Prof and his pops getting caught making out on the beach like teenagers or something. “His _what_?!” 

“It caught me off guard, too. His name’s David and he doesn’t like his father one bit. Which, considering how our dad and Xavier are practically attached at the hip, explains why we’ve never seen him before,” Lorna goes on. 

Wanda looks more amused than anything, but she’s always been difficult to shock. “Looks like you’re finally getting a brother after all, Pete.” 

“This is the best day ever,” Peter decides, laughing. It’s a declaration he makes often, but still! 

Lorna and Wanda exchange a tired look, but Peter is happy to ignore them. They’re tired of him more often than not, at this point. Maybe David will be more fun to spend time with, Peter thinks as Lorna leads them to go meet their stepbrother. More like him and less like the girls. They’re all staying in the same guesthouse for the wedding weekend, so it’ll be the perfect time to make a new partner in crime.

As it turns out, the exact opposite is true. David is somehow even moodier than the girls. He looks somewhat like his father, but even with the resemblance, the annoyed scowl on his face makes him a perfect candidate to join the Lehnsherr family. At this point, Peter might even offer to switch places and be the token Xavier son, so David can take his rightful spot among the Lehnsherr Clan of Moodiness. 

“I’m a telepath, you know?” David says, in lieu of any greeting. 

Aaaand maybe this is his cue to run straight to Seychelles and take the next plane back to New York. Peter pales to nearly the same shade as his hair. “Oh! Um… I meant it as a compliment?” 

“I don’t even want to know what embarrassing things he’s thinking up in that big empty space where his head should be,” Wanda sighs. “I apologize for my brother, David. It’s nice to meet you.” 

“Uh huh. So did your dad bribe you to be here or are you actually looking forward to this wedding?” David asks, transporting Peter and Wanda’s luggage to their bunk bed with a wave of his hand. 

Wanda shrugs. “Erik’s not a great dad, but most of that was just not even knowing we existed. He’s not the worst guy around. He wanted us to come, so we might as well.” 

“Ah, so you’re like Lorna. The only correct answer, by the way, is ‘all expenses paid trip to a tropical island’. Which isn’t even something I can say, considering I live here anyway,” David laments. 

Yup, definitely moody and dramatic like the girls. Peter asks, “Why’re you here if you hate it so much, then?” 

“Your dad showed up at my door every morning to harass me until I agreed to come,” David explains. 

“Yup. That sounds like Erik,” Wanda agrees. 

“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of toasts this weekend, but here’s to the most important one of all,” David declares, fetching a bottle of champagne from his bed and making glasses appear seemingly out of nowhere. “To us surviving the weekend!” 

Regular alcohol doesn’t really do anything to him, but Peter has a feeling he’ll need anything he can get to survive this wedding, so he grabs a glass and clinks it up against David’s. “Cheers to that.” 

\-----

It’s not the most awkward wedding Charles has ever seen. That’s not saying a lot, considering the many aristocratic weddings forged out of money instead of love Charles saw as a young boy, but he’ll cling to anything he can right now. His nerves are through the roof and he doesn’t exactly have many people around he can look to to feel better. Erik is in another room getting ready and the only other family he really has is David, who is already doing more than expected by simply being here. Charles doesn’t want to push his luck. 

Naturally, Charles assumes that the knock at the door is someone lost and looking for Erik. He’s rather popular here on the island, for obvious reasons. But when Charles goes to open the door, it’s not some lost stray mutant on the other side, but Hank, looking as horrifically nervous as ever. 

Charles hasn’t seen Hank since signing over the school to him and for a moment, he wonders if maybe Hank really is just lost and looking for Erik. “Hello, Hank. It’s good to see you again. Did you mean to come back here?” he asks, hoping it sounds curious and not like he’s sending Hank away or like he can’t fathom why someone would want to come visit him. 

“Yes. Yes, I did,” Hank says, nodding. He stands up straighter and despite being a fully grown man in charge of the school, Charles still sees him as that scared teenage boy, trying to seem older and more responsible than he really is. Maybe that’s where it had all gone wrong. “I know we didn’t end up on the best of terms, but… Erik mentioned you were all alone here and… that’s not how Raven would have wanted it.” 

“I’m not so sure about that,” Charles murmurs, deflating a bit at the mention of his sister. 

“Well I am,” he insists. “And as her husband, I’m pretty confident in that. So. Here I am, reporting for duty as your official best man.” 

“I was under the impression that most of the work best men do is _before_ the wedding?” Charles points out. 

Hank sighs and, to his credit, doesn’t just walk right out the door. “Just take it, Charles.” 

Really, there isn’t much to be done with an hour to go to the wedding, but Charles appreciates the company, even if he knows Hank is only doing it for Raven’s sake. They share some superficial conversation, mostly about how the school and everyone are doing since the Jean incident, but it’s infinitely better than silent anxiety while he waits. Hank even helps Charles with making sure his tie is straight and his shoes are shined, which isn’t needed at all, but Charles can appreciate the gesture. When it’s finally time to go meet Erik under the chuppah, he’s considerably calmer than he’d expected. 

Or as calm as one can be during a wedding. Particularly, his own wedding. Years later, he’ll pretend it was the most memorable occasion of his life, but in reality, he doesn’t remember much more beyond how handsome Erik is and how very in love he is. 

That’s enough to remember, he thinks. That and how happy he feels when he’s on the dance floor with Erik and everyone they’ve invited, probably only all getting along because of the open bar. He’ll take what he can get. 

\---

The wedding was on Friday and by Sunday evening, everyone’s gone home again. Charles wishes they had stayed longer, but it’s probably best it was only a short weekend. He might have gotten too used to having all his old pupils and family running about. He’s just starting to get used to this new life of his out here. He’s not going to ruin that now. 

Despite being the slowest to agree to visit and the one with the closest home, David’s the last to pack up his things. Charles know it was slightly miraculous that David had even agreed to come stay in their guest room instead of travel from his own apartment, so he won’t press his luck by even thinking too loudly about when the next time they’ll see each other is. 

Despite that, David stops at the doorway on his way out and waves them both goodbye. “Right then. I know you’re not traveling anywhere for a honeymoon, but I imagine there’ll be honeymoon type activities going on. Try to have some pants on by Friday night, at least? I’ll come by for dinner. See you then.” 

And then he’s gone, far too quickly for Charles to possibly react. He’s understandably flustered and he turns to Erik, wondering if he might have just imagined all of it. “You heard that as well, right? Did it sound like he was joking?” 

“It’s an olive branch, motek. Just take it,” Erik says, leaning down to press a kiss to Charles’ forehead. 

“I will! Of course I will. It’s just… it’s shocking. That’s all. I didn’t think I’d ever stand a chance to make things right with him,” Charles says, wheeling his way to their bed. It’s been a perfect weekend, but undeniably exhausting. Right now, Charles just wants to lie down for a few hours and not worry about a single thing. 

Erik shrugs as he joins Charles on the bed. “And I never thought I’d get to marry you. Life is full of happy surprises.” 

“That couldn’t be more true,” he agrees, leaning his head up on Erik’s shoulder. 

“Mmhmm. Though, to be completely honest with you, I might be getting too old for surprises. If the rest of our life is like this, just laying around and doing a lot of nothing, I’ll be more than happy,” Erik says. 

Charles can get behind that idea. He’s not sure if he has the energy in him for another world threatening event or anything of that sort. Not even if he’s just monitoring it from behind a desk like most of what he’d done over the last few years. He’ll leave all of that to the younger kids. He would have retired a long time ago if he knew that retired life was going to be made up mainly of laying in bed with Erik and strolling the beach with Erik and cooking with Erik and playing chess with Erik and having dinner with Erik and -

God, there’s a chance that list might soon include having dinner and spending time with his son. Maybe? He and David haven’t spent much time together, upon David’s request, but David coming to the wedding had been a huge step forward and asking to get together at the end of this week… that had to mean something, right? Even if it’s just a trial run. Charles hopes he does well. 

He doesn’t expect he and David will be best friends or that David will start coming round every day to talk about his life and problems, but maybe they can have what Erik has with his own kids. The occasional visits and a relationship without bad blood, even if it is on the more awkward and impersonal side. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Maybe that can be his retirement project. Some people build model trains or start painting or go bird watching, he’ll start trying to salvage whatever is left of his relationship with his son. Easy. All in a day’s work. He’s sure Erik will help him. Erik’s always been surprisingly good with all of the kids and the children they have between them. 

“Charles,” Erik speaks up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and tugging him further down until they’re both laying down and staring up at the ceiling. “I’m not the telepath and even I can tell that you’re overthinking about something or the other right now.” 

“I am,” he admits. “Just… There’s a lot happening, you know? And a lot that’s happened until now. Lots of… relationships to mend, people to accept as lost, and all that.” 

“I know. Trust me, I know. But… we just got married and we live on a tropical paradise. We can take a day or two to just enjoy it, right? Enjoy being husbands?” Erik suggests. 

Charles takes a long breath and nods. “You’re right. You’re right. All of that will still be there later on. For now… Enjoying being husbands and that’s that.” 

“Perfect. I’ll warn you, it involves pretty much never leaving this bed.” 

“Oh, darling, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 


End file.
